Control apparatus with flexible control elements



Feb. 15, 1-949. M. N. YARDENY CONTROL APPARATUS WITH FLEXIBLE CONTROL ELEMENTS Filed March 20, 1944 Frail MCHEL MYA EDEN? lNVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL APPARATUS WITH FLEXIBLE, CONTROL ELEMENTS Michel N. Yardeny, New York, N. Y. Application March 20, 1944, Serial No. 527,232

Claims. 1

My invention relates to control apparatus and has particular reference to apparatus including independently or relatively movable control elements, one element comprising conducting means having a neutral point and another element comprising a contact member for engaging the conducting means.

My invention relates more specifically to control apparatus in which an electric motor adapted to operate a useful load is controlled by independently movable control elements, one of which is moved manually (or otherwise) to a desired position, the other having a gap or neutral point, is moved by an auxiliary motor, forming a part of the control apparatus, the load motor being stopped when the motor driven control element is moved to a position in which the gap or neutral point is engaged by the manually movable element.

Such control apparatus are described in my copending applications, Serial No. 389,162, filed April 18, 1941, now Patent No. 2,440,838, issued May 4, 1948, and Serial No. 415,544, filed October 18, 1941, now Patent No. 2,433,970, issued Jan. 6, 1948.

Apparatus of the type described are preferably equipped with means for preventing hunting or oscillations of the used drive means such as motors which may occur if a control element is displaced by inertia movements of the drive means after the control elements have reached their predetermined relative position and causes renewed operation of the drive means.

One of the objects of my present invention is to provide improved means for suppressing hunting of the drive means or motors. I have found that very goods results can be obtained by making portions of the conducting members forming one of the control elements, of a flexible resilient material and by raising these portions at the gap above a supporting insulation base. This base may have a suitable recess or depression allowing the resilient end portions of the conducting member to be deflected freely by the contactpressure between the control elements. The raised end portions of the segments may be curved downward, thus forming a seat for the contact mem ber, so that the latter is resiliently held in the gap. The flexibility and resiliency of the end portions make it possible for the contact member to be displaced to a certain extent in relation to its seat while still bridging the gap. As a result, an overrunning of the drive means and motor by inertia, while slightly displacing the contact member does not remove the latter from the gap 2 so that the motor is rapidly brought to a final stop.-

Another object of my invention is a means for counterbalancing the contact pressure between the control elements.

My invention is more fully described in the accompanying specification and drawings in which:

Fig. l is a circuit diagram of my apparatus in which series wound motors are shown by way of an example;

Fig. 2 is a fractional sectional view of my improved control elements taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 4 is a fractional sectional view of the same taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of my control apparatus; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic detail View of control elements showing their relative displacement.

My'control apparatus comprises a pair of segments l, 2 made of a conducting material, preferably metal. The segments are mounted on an insulation base 3, for example in form of a disc rotatively mounted on a shaft 4. The two segments l and 2 have a substantially semi-circular shape as can best be seen in Fig. 3. Segment I has a peripheral portion extending over the entire surface of the insulation disc in the form of a narrow annular strip 1 engaged by a contact brush 8; The segment 2 is connected by rivets 9 with a ring in at the bottom side of the insulation disc engaged by a contact brush H. The segments are slidably engaged by a contact ball II at the end of a resilient contact member or contactor l3 keyed to shaft "4, so that the contactor or contact arm and'the segments are con centrically mounted.

The segments are separated by gaps l4, l5, but only the gap i5 is reached or bridged by the contact member, this being the working gap. The end portions 25, 2| of the segments l5 are raised at the gap and curved downward at the tips I8, i9 to form a seat 22 for the ball H. A recess or depression 5 may be provided in the iso 3 beneath the end portions 20, 2!. The segments are preferably made sufficiently thin and resilient so that their end portions can yield under pressure of the contact-or [3. As a result, the ball [2 if moved to a certain extent to the right .or to the left will retain its contact with both segments by depressing one of the flexible end portions 2a or 2! while retaining contact with the other end portion and thereby maintaining the gap bridged. This effect is shown more clearly in Fig. 6, the relative displacement being indicated at 24. Such a limited relative displacement of the segments is usually sufiicient to absorb the inertia movements of the driving means and to stop the same rapidly. Moreover, the contact member, having its ball-shaped contact point it wedged in the gap may be entrained by the gap while the motor is maintained inoperative or deenergized and its inertia movements are absorbed by friction.

The contact arm |3 may be provided with a forked extension having legs 15, 75 with balls 16 made of an insulating material. The balls straddle the rear gap, sliding over the segments 2. Such an arrangement is useful for equalizing or counterbalancing the contact pressure between the disc and the contact arm thereby preventing distortion of the disc.

A circuit diagram for a control apparatus according to my invention is shown in Fig. 1. The disc 3 is connected by a suitable transmission 25 with the armature 26 of a control or auxiliary motor, the contactor l3 being adapted to be rotated manually. The segments 2 are connected by leads 21, 28 with the ends of relay coils 36, 3|, the other ends of the coils being connected by a common lead 32 and a lead 33 withga terminal 35 of a source of current. The other terminal 35 of the source of current is connected by a lead 37 with the contactor I3.

The relays have contact arms 40, 4| connected by a lead 60 and normally engaging contact points 42, 43 connected with the ends of reversing motor field windings 44, 45. The other ends of the windings being connected to one terminal of the armature 26, the other armature terminal is connected by leads 46, 4! with the terminal 36 of the source of current. The arms 40, 4| when attracted by the energized coils 36, 3| engage contact points 48, 49 connected to the lead 33.

A controlled or load motor having reversing windings 5| is connected by leads 52, 53 with the points 42, 43, the common lead of the windings being connected with one terminal of the armature 55, the other armature terminal being connected by lead 41 with the terminal 36 of the source of current. The shaft 56 of the load motor may be connected to a useful load 5? such as a tuning element of a radio apparatus, etc.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows:

Assuming that contactor I3 is moved to the right and engages segment 2, relay 60 will be deenergized and the relay 3| energized, its circuit being closed from terminal 35 through lead 33, lead 32, coil 3|, lead 28, brush contact ring 7, segment 2, contactor l3 and lead 3? to terminal. Hence the relay 3| will cause the contact arm 4| to engage the point 49. Current will now flow from the terminal 35 through the lead 33, point 49, arm 4|, connecting lead 66, arm 46, point 42, winding 44, armature 26 of the control motor, and leads 46, 47 to the terminal 36. The control motor will begin to rotate, causing the disc 3 to turn and the gap |5 to follow the contactor i3. Current will also flow by the lead 52 through the winding 56, armature 55 of the controlled or load motor and lead 41 to the terminal 36, causing the load or controlled motor to rotate and to operate the load. The load position may be observed directly or by means of suitable position indicating devices, such, for instance, as are disclosed in my foregoing mentioned patent applications. The manually operated contactor |3 is stopped when the desired position is approximately reached by the load while rotation of the motor continues until the gap following the contactor 15 is bridged by the ball l2 of the contactor i3. Both relay coils 30, 3| will be then onergized, attracting both the arms 40, 4| thus interrupting the circuit of both motors. The motors may be provided with suitable automatic brakes such as are disclosed in my foregoing patent applications for causing the motors to stop more rapidly by absorbing the force of inertia while the gap is bridged by the ball [2 of contactor 3, thereby preventing hunting of the motors. By moving the contactor I 3 slightly to the right or to the left, the load 51 may be placed exactly in a desired position.

The control elements may be placed in a casing formed by an upper plate 6|, 2. lower plate 62, and side walls 63, the shaft 4 being journaled into the upper and lower plates as shown in Fig. 5 and is provided with a gear 65, engaged by a pinion 66 on a shaft 61 with a knobBB for its manual operation. The disc 3 is fastened to a gear 16 engaged by a pinion operated by a motor 62 through a worm drive comprising a gear l3 and a Worm 74.

It should be noted that the control motor may be operatively connected to the contactor shaft the disc 3 being then connected to a manually operable shaft.

It should be also understood that the control elements may be operated in conjunction with various types of motors, A. C. or D. C. and circuit systems.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to certain particular preferred examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the invention, that various changes and further modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended therefore in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications.

What is claimed as new and desired to base-- cured by Letters Patent is: 7 1. Control elements for a control apparatus, one element comprising substantially semi-circular electrically conducting segments separated by a gap, and another element comprising a contact arm mounted concentrically with said segments for rotation relative to the segments and slidably engaging the said segments for causing the arm to remain in slidable engagement with at least one of the segments, while being rotated relative to the same, the end portions of the segments being resiliently flexible at the gap and arranged to yield under pressure of the contact arm when both end portions are engaged by the contact arm for retaining the latter in the gap while allowing a limited relative displacement be tween the two control elements.

2. Control elements for a control apparatus, one element comprising substantially semi-circular electrically conducting segments separated by a gap, and another element comprising a contact arm mounted concentrically with said segments for rotation relative to the segments and slidably engaging the said segments for causing the arm to remain in slidable engagement with at least one of the segments, while being rotated relative to the same, the segments having raised resilient end portions at the gap with downward bent tips forming a, resiliently flexible seat for the contact arm.

3. Control elements for a control apparatus, one element comprising substantially semi-cipcular electrically conducting segments separated by a gap, and another element comprising a contact arm mounted concentrically with said segments for rotation relative to the segments and slidably engaging the said segments for causing the arm to remain in slidable engagement with at least one of the segments, while being rotated relative to the same, and an insulation base for the segments, the segments having raised resilient end portions at the gap forming a seat for the contact arm portion engaging said segments, the base having a recess positioned beneath the raised resilient end portions, said resilient portions being arranged to be yieldably depressed toward the recess by the contact arm.

4. Control elements for a control apparatus, one element comprising substantially semi-circular electrically conducting segments separated by a gap, and another element comprising a contact arm mounted concentrically with said segments for rotation relative to the segments and slidably engaging the said segments for causing the arm to remain in slidable engagement with at least one of the segments, while being rotated relative to the same, the end portions of the segments being resiliently flexible at the gap and arranged to yield under pressure of the contact arm when both end portions are engaged by the contact arm for retaining the latter in the gap while allowing a limited relative displacement between the two control elements, and balance means at the contact arm to counterbalance the contact pressure between the portions of the contact arm engaging the segments and the se ments.

5. Control elements for a control apparatus, one element comprising substantially semi-circular electrically conducting segments separated by a gap, and another element comprising a contact arm mounted concentrically with said segments for rotation relative to the segments and slidably engaging the said segments for causing the arm to remain in slidable engagement with at least one of the segments, while being rotated relative to the same, the end portions of the segments being resiliently flexible at the gap and arranged to yield under pressure of the contact arm when both end portions are engaged by the contact arm for retaining the latter in the gap while allowing a limited relative displacement I REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 449,282 Clark Mar. 31, 1891 456,493 Lovell July 21, 1891 1,030,593 Loguin June 25, 1912 1,194,447 Walker Aug. 15, 1916 1,651,852 Trenor Dec. 6, 1927 1,715,014 Soreng May 28, 1929 1,725,256 Claytor Aug. 20, 1929 2,342,717 Yardeny Feb. 29, 1944 

